SHS, SMS locked down Tuesday morning

Student reports seeing man with gun at bus stop

By Melanie Speicher - mspeicher@sidneydailynews.com

SIDNEY — Parents of Sidney High School and Middle School students were informed, via a 1 Call Tuesday morning, of a lockdown of both schools.

Superintendent John Scheu, in his call to parents and others on the 1 Call system, said the situation occurred when a student at a bus stop at Clinton Street and Port Jefferson Road allegedly saw someone with a gun.

“The sixth-grade student at Sidney Middle School said he saw a male adult with a silver revolver in a holster,” said Scheu during an interview after the incident. “The man was walking toward the bus stop. The person pulled open his coat and showed the gun. The student got scared and ran home and told his parents, who called the middle school and Sidney Police.”

The middle school and high school, said Scheu, went on immediate lock down. Lockers were searched and students at the bus stop were asked what they had seen.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jim Frye said the office received a call from Deputy Rick Cron, who is the school’s security officer, about the school receiving a call about the incident.

“I sent all four of my detectives out to investigate it,” said Frye. “They searched all of the students and lockers at the schools where the students go who would have been at that bus stop. They spoke with the student who had made the call to his mother and also several other students who would have been at the bus stop and had not went to school. At this time there is no belief that any student has a weapon.”

Scheu said the schools were locked down between 20 and 30 minutes.

“At no point were any of our students in danger at the school,” said Scheu.